Goodbye Middle School, Hello High School!
by superalicat
Summary: How did Ritsu and Mio get into the same high school as Yui and Mugi anyway? In true Mio and Ritsu fashion, there were ups and downs, twists and turns, tears and laughter. What story would be complete without them? In this two-part story, find out Ritsu and Mio's journey out of middle school and into Sakura High. Unless someone originally didn't make it in...
1. Chapter 1: Goodbye, Middle School!

Title: Part 1: Goodbye, Middle School!

Characters: Mio, Ritsu

Pairings: Mio/Ritsu

It was a frosty day in early spring. Mio Akiyama stuffed her hands in her pockets to warm them up. Though she had been stressing out a lot lately, the chilly day was making her even more anxious. Her homeroom teacher had told her that this was the week they were getting their high school entrance exam results back.

High school was one of Mio's main obsessions. The middle school third-year had been talking and thinking about it since the beginning of the school year. Her best friend, Ritsu Tainaka, had soon gotten tired of talking about high school. To her, it wasn't a big deal. Knowing Ritsu, she'd probably fail all of her entrance exams but still get into a high school anyway. But Mio cared. High school was her _future_, just one step away from college, which was adulthood. So, for whole months before the entrance exams came up, she and Ritsu had been studying meticulously. Then came the question of where the girls actually wanted to go to high school. For this, Mio had spent 15 minutes reading off her list of dream high schools and backup schools. Then she'd rounded on Ritsu, who'd looked half asleep, and asked her what school she wanted to go to.

"Eh, I don't really know. My mom wants me to take the entrance exam for Sakuragaoka Girls' High School, since she went to school there, so I guess I'll take the exam for it."

"You mean _that's it_?!" Mio had exclaimed.

"Yeah, I guess. I can't really think of anywhere else."

Mio consulted her list. She'd been shocked to find that Sakuragaoka Girls' High School was there, as one of her last backups. There were just so many other good schools. But Ritsu had been her friend for years, and she couldn't abandon Ritsu just because they wanted to go to different schools. Ritsu would be totally lost without Mio. Who would help her study for finals? Who would be around for Ritsu to spook and tease? Mio didn't want to admit it, but she'd be lonely without her energetic golden-eyed best friend. So she'd made up her mind. She was going to take the exam for Sakura High along with Ritsu. It would become her new dream school, and all of the other ones would just be backup schools.

She and Ritsu had studied and studied until they were both positive that they could nail Sakura High's entrance exam (though Ritsu had been complaining that they'd wasted _every free second _they had on studying). For Mio, the entrance exam had gone well, but she was still worried about Ritsu, who wasn't the best with tests. Of course she was concerned about her own test results, but she thought about Ritsu's more than hers.

Mio was pulled back to the present by Ritsu running up to her and slinging an arm over Mio's shoulder. "You better not be thinking about high school _again_, or I'll hit you." She held out her fist, proving that she was indeed serious.

"I'm not!" protested Mio. "And you shouldn't be hitting _anyone_!"

Both of them started walking down the road toward their middle school. Ritsu did most of the talking, telling her about what she'd seen on TV and what her family was up to. Mio tried listening to her, but had a bad feeling in her stomach, like something was wrong. She couldn't take her mind off their entrance exam results.

The day couldn't have gone any slower, or it would have been going backwards. Mio kept trying to look for an opportunity to talk to her homeroom teacher, but she always seemed to be busy. Mio even tried ambushing her in the bathroom, but Ritsu, who knew what was going on, dragged her away, declaring what Mio was doing as stalking. It was usually Ritsu who drifted off during class, but now it was Mio. She kept having visions of things that might happen.

Finally, after school, Mio finally got her opportunity. In the staffroom, she cornered her homeroom teacher. Ritsu came with her for some reason.

"Your results? Well, I was planning on giving them out tomorrow, but I guess I could give them to you now-"

Ritsu snatched the two papers out of their teacher's hand. "Okay. Thanks!" She dragged Mio out of the room.

"Hey! What was that about?" demanded Mio.

"You've been obsessing over this for _way_ too long. It's time we just got it over with." Ritsu handed Mio one of the papers. At the same time, they both looked down at their results.

Mio couldn't believe it. She'd gotten into Sakura High, _and _the six other schools (she'd narrowed her list down) she'd applied for. With a big smile on her face, she looked up at Ritsu. Everything was okay now. Since she'd passed, Ritsu probably had too. Probably…?

Ritsu was smiling too. "I guess you got in then, huh?" she asked. "That's really great, Mio." Wait…was Ritsu being a little too kind. Mio studied her friend's face closely. Her smile wasn't exactly happy, more sheepish.

The paper dropped from Mio's hand. "No way. You didn't…"

"I didn't pass. But I'm really glad you did."

"D-don't try to change the subject!" Mio exclaimed. But she'd worked so hard to help Ritsu, whose first choice had been Sakura High. It hadn't even been Mio's top choice, but she'd easily gotten in. "You should've gotten in, not me!"

"It's okay, Mio."

"No, it's not!" Mio whirled around and started walking away, only stopping to take off her indoor shoes and put on her street shoes. She felt like she was about to cry. All of those scenarios that had been playing through her head didn't even begin to compare to what had really happened.

Mio opened the door to her house and ran straight to her bedroom. She flopped down on her bed and pulled out her cell phone. Sure enough, there were three missed calls for Ritsu. She dialed the second number on her speed dial, which was Ritsu's.

"Mio! Geez, where did you go? Are you still at school?"

"No, I went home."

"Do you want me to come over?"

"No."

"Mio, you don't have to act this upset. It's just the end of my school career," joked Ritsu. She was trying to be funny and make the situation seem better than it was, but Mio didn't smile. She felt a tear roll down her cheek.

In a quavering voice, Mio said, "It's not just the end of your school career. It's the end of mine too. Ritsu, I'm not going to high school unless it's with you. So it looks like I won't be going to Sakura Girls' High after all."

_To be continued…_


	2. Chapter 2: Hello, High School!

Title: Part 2: Hello, High School!

Characters: Mio, Ritsu, Yui, Mugi

Pairings: Mio/Ritsu

Mio clicked the "end call" button on her phone. She hadn't even listened to Ritsu's protests, just hung up. Closing her eyes, she tried to imagine herself not going to high school. Becoming a waitress, or even a NEET. It wasn't what she wanted at all, but what was the alternative? Ritsu not going to school with her? Mio walked over to her bed and plopped down on it, hugging her pillow close to her chest. Maybe she'd just have to go to high school alone…but then who would she be friends with? Mio hated being lonely, though she needed breaks from Ritsu once in a while. Mio's eyes, still puffy from crying, slowly began to close…

The bells signaling the end of the school day began to ring. Mio's eyes snapped open. She'd put her head down for a second to rest but had drifted off without realizing it. It was a lazy early summer afternoon, and most of the other girls looked sleepy too. _That was such a weird dream_, Mio thought sleepily. Saying goodbye to her teacher, Mio headed out of the classroom.

Once she had stepped outside of the gates of Sakura High, Mio scanned the crowd of students for the familiar face she knew would be waiting for her.

"Hey, Mio."

Mio turned around to see Ritsu standing there, wearing old jeans and a stained T-shirt, a strange contrast from Mio's school uniform. In fact, she looked completely out of place in the crowd. Girls from Mio's class and other ones were shooting Ritsu strange looks, and Mio knew why. A NEET at a high school…what was she even doing here?

"Did you have any luck with your job interview today?" Mio asked, trying to forget about all the girls staring at them.

"Nah, they didn't let me in. Guess nobody even wants me working at a fast food restaurant. But it's okay." Ritsu smiled at Mio and tried to reach for her hand. Mio pulled her own away.

"No, Ritsu! It's not okay! I'm at high school and you don't even have a job to support yourself! What are you going to do?"

"What am _I_ going to do?" Ritsu looked startled. Her eyebrows shot up and she stared at Mio with wide gold eyes. Suddenly, the crowd of schoolgirls all turned into Ritsu and began saying, "What am I going to do? What am I going to do? What am I going to do…?"

"What am I going to do?!" gasped Mio, her eyes flying open. She was curled up in her bed. It had just been a dream. She reached toward her phone, which she'd attempted to fling at the wall but had just placed on her desk. A message flashed across the screen: _One new voicemail._

Mio called her voicemail, and the message turned out to be from exactly who she thought it would be.

"Hey, Mio. It's Ritsu." Mio sniffled. Was Ritsu still trying to act cheerful even after all of this? The messaged continued. "Look, I…I get it, okay? I get that when you make a friend, you don't do it easily. When you do, you want to stay close to that friend for as long as you possibly can. You don't ever want to give them up. I get it. You don't want to leave me behind, so you're willing to do something that might…might ruin the whole rest of your life! And I don't want you to do that. Mio, high school's your dream. You've been obsessed with it forever, and I don't want you to give up on that. I guess I was an idiot and should've taken this more seriously."

Mio sniffled louder, feeling like she was about to cry again.

"…but I'll be fine, Mio. You shouldn't have to worry about me. Actually, I know you're going to, 'cause that's just the kind of person you are. And that's one of the things that makes me proud to be your friend. Anyway, what I'm trying to say here is that you shouldn't give up on high school. And you definitely shouldn't get this depressed over some dumb entrance exam either. The Mio I know would do something to make it better. Not that I'm making you do anything, but just saying. Even if it might not work in the end, you should at least try to make it better. I know I'm going to try. If you want to, call me." The message ended there and Mio hung up, wiping her eyes and sniffling even louder. Who knew that Ritsu could be like this? But the more Mio thought about it, the more she realized that Ritsu was right. Usually, Mio would try to do something to help. But she wasn't doing anything now. Then again, she _had_ woken up saying, "What am I going to do?"

Mio blew her nose on a tissue and reached for her phone again. She dialed the second number on her speed dial.

"Hey, Ritsu, it's me. You were right…"

The next morning, Mio met up with Ritsu at their usual place, in a determined mood. "I've finalized the plan, and it's ready to go," she told her friend as they set off.

"Jeez, Mio, you're making it sound like some sort of spy mission."

"It's just as important as one," Mio declared.

"You don't say," muttered Ritsu. Once they reached the school, Mio led them both directly to the staffroom and to their homeroom teacher's desk. Their teacher looked up, confused.

"Excuse me for interrupting," Mio said boldly. "But I was wondering, is there any way to retake an entrance exam?"

Their teacher stared at Mio quizzically for a few moments. "Well, I guess I could let you retake it, Mio. It might take a bit of persuasion, but you certainly have the potential-"

"Not for me, Sensei, for Ritsu!" Mio motioned toward Ritsu, who had a nervous smile on her face.

"Ohh." Their teacher suddenly looked like a thought had struck her. "Hang on. Is this about those test results I gave you yesterday? Because…I think…" She opened a desk drawer and dug around until she found a pile of papers. Sorting through them, she said, "Oh, here it is." She handed a piece of paper over to Ritsu. "I'm terribly sorry. I think I got your test results mixed up with someone else's, because one of them was missing and yours was still here."

"W-what?"

"Thanks very much," Ritsu said. She grabbed Mio by the arm and led her out of the staffroom.

"Ritsu. What. Was. That?" Mio spoke in clipped sentences. But Ritsu wasn't paying attention. She was reaching into her bag and pulling out another piece of paper. Holding it side-by-side with the paper their teacher had just given her, a satisfied smile spread across Ritsu's face.

"I knew it!" Ritsu said triumphantly.

"Did…did that…was that just…"

"Yeah. The teacher switched my paper with someone else's. I knew right away, in case you were wondering."

"WHAT?"

"Oh, lighten up, Mio. That's what this was all about. I decided to pretend those results were mine. I mean, you never got to actually look at them, did you? You automatically believed they were mine."

"And the voicemail?"

"Oh, that. I made it up, with help from my mom and the Internet. I couldn't believe how depressed you got, so I had to make you feel better somehow. It was really great: you got all determined, like you'd die if I didn't get into high school with you."

"R-RITSU!" With that, Mio smacked Ritsu over the head. "How could you _do _that to me?! Do you _know_ how upset I was?!"

Ritsu grinned up at Mio. "I guess the voicemail worked, then. I got a bunch of those lines off some lovey-dovey website."

Mio flushed red. Those lines had actually made her cry! "Did you actually get in…this time?" she managed to ask.

"Yep! Passed with full marks!" Ritsu beamed. Just as she finished saying that, Mio jumped on Ritsu and wrapped her arms around her. Her eyes were filling with tears, but these were happy ones. She hugged Ritsu even tighter, and Ritsu awkwardly patted her on the back.

"Ritsu…" Suddenly, Mio's grip on her friend tightened until the other girl was struggling to breathe. "You're giving those other test results back _right now_!"

"O-okay," gasped Ritsu as Mio let go of her.

"So…high school? We really are going together, aren't we?"

"Yep. Hey, if I managed to pass the entrance exam, how hard could it be?" There was a short pause, and then an exclamation from Ritsu. Mio had whacked her on the head again.

"You only got in because you got lucky, Ritsu! Stop taking everything for granted."

"Okay, okay," chuckled Ritsu. "Come on, we'd better go and tell everyone that we're going to high school together after all."

"Do you think I just told everyone I was dropping out? No way!"

…

Mio finished telling the story and sat back down, taking a sip of Mugi's delicious tea.

"And that was how we got into high school!" announced Ritsu. She'd been adding her own commentary to the entire story, which Mio did not appreciate.

"Wow! That sounded so fun!" gushed Mugi, putting her own cup back down on the table.

"Mio, I didn't know you were _that_ emotional in middle school!" Yui exclaimed.

"Oh, yeah! There was this one time when-"

"Don't tell them about that, Ritsu!"

"You know," Mugi mused. "We've almost been in high school for a full year now. That's pretty cool, huh? The new students are going to be coming in soon."

"Just like us last year!"

Mio smiled at Yui's comment. "You know, I remember my first day of high school. I never could've imagined I'd end up here of all places…but…I've had so much fun with you guys!" The dark-haired bassist beamed across the table at everyone, who smiled back at her. They knew not to bug Mio when she was being sentimental.

"This is very touching and all," said Sawa-chan, who was suddenly sitting next to Mio. "But where's my tea and cake? I'm starving!"

Everyone screamed.


End file.
